Page 11 of The Promise of Tomorrow
Damn. He won that. Their relationship skated nicely on the surface, as if their words moved on smooth boards and not jagged blades, with banter to determine who could be the cleverest. It kept them dynamic at work, producing their very best; it kept Rory, like everyone else, away from her hidden depths. Perhaps a dip in the pool would get rid of the tension, still in her shoulders, after the rogue firework and coffee spill.
‘Okay. If I can find my swimsuit. A leaflet came through about a pool being opened to the public only a couple of streets away, at a local school. It’s a private one.’
‘Of course it is.’
She threw a cushion at his head and got up to change. ‘After lunch I’ll make a roast, unless you’re going out?’ she said, feeling obliged to return the favour, after the breakfast he’d thoughtfully bought for both of them. It can’t have been much fun for him, living away from his own personal comforts. Like his air fryer, hot chocolate machine, and the souvenirs from the countries he’d visited doing extreme sports, such as the Alpaca blanket he’d brought back from the bungee jump in Peru. And fancy gadgets and travel mementoes were all very well, but home was where the roast potatoes were.
An hour later, she stood by the edge of the pool, in her blue and gold chain-print one-piece, and breathed in chlorine. It took her back to her childhood and swimming trips with Mum and Dad. The three of them would race widths, throw balls and swim through each other’s legs. Elena eased herself into the water, her waist shrinking as if it could fit into a Bridgerton corset. She’d loved those books and hadn’t bothered with the TV series. Elena bobbed up and down, acclimatising herself slowly to the temperature. She lay on her back, star-shaped, feeling as light as one of those pops of colour from the firework display, floating through the sky. Brushing her hair off her face, she stood up again and smiled at a small child paddling past in an inflatable ring. Elena was about to swim a length when Rory appeared on the pool deck. She did breaststroke over to the side and looked up.
‘Nice trunks,’ she said and sank into the water. Very nice. They clung just tightly enough on his slim but muscular legs. She forced her eyes to his face, ignoring the heat in her lower body that must have been caused by the pool’s heating system.
‘A gift from my granddad. He’s always dreamed of going to Hawaii. Nearest he’s ever got is drinking a canned Mai Tai on Blackpool beach.’ Rory strode to the end of the pool and easily dived in, with the grace and style he radiated on dry land. He popped up by Elena, breath even, as if he survived as much on chlorine as oxygen. They both hung on to the side and Elena reached out towards his chest and a silver necklace. She pointed to the pendant.
‘A shark’s tooth?’
‘Found it on a beach in Florida, last year. I went on a last-minute surfing holiday with mates. It was shortly before I started doing contract work for Bingley Biscuits.’
‘Fun memories, then.’
Rory fingered the pendant. ‘Sure…’
He went to swim away but something in those eyes, chestnut and flicked with hazelnut, like a warm, inviting mug of hot chocolate, made her touch his arm. ‘What else?’
He ran the tooth along his bottom lip. ‘Sharks are misunderstood creatures, made out to be ruthless killers of humans. Yet you can probably count their fatal attacks on us, each year, on two hands. Them going for us is rare, whereas we slaughter almost one hundred million sharks in the same time period, for their fins, or oil for cosmetics…’
Elena’s mouth fell open. ‘That many?’
He nodded. ‘It’s relatable, that’s all. Appearances can be deceptive. Show me a human who says they don’t feel misunderstood and I’ll show you a liar.’
Before she had a chance to reply, he disappeared under the water and swam down to the deep end. Elena followed. Was there more to Rory than his dangerous hobbies, the wisecracks, the enviable fluid, easy-going approach to life?
They did several lengths and raced the last, Rory winning, despite Elena grabbing hold of his feet and tickling one. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed quite as loudly. A bodybuilder type walked past on the pool deck. He must have been six foot tall and built as if he lifted weights as often as Elena lifted her coffee cup. Rory got out and stood on the side, doing stretches. Today’s swim must have seemed tame to an extreme sports enthusiast like him. Well, Elena could be daring too. Like when she was a teen, she’d try to swim a width, underwater, as close to the bottom as possible. The pool had almost emptied out as lunchtime approached and she trod water against the far concrete side of the pool. She closed her eyes, bobbing up and down, mentally preparing herself.
Elena took a deep breath, ducked under the surface, propelled herself downwards and touched the bottom. Victory!But the tricky bit was staying as low as you could, until the far side loomed into view. Searching, her eyes stung, and as an automatic reaction, she opened her mouth with discomfort and took in an unexpected gulp of water. A gag reflex kicked in and Elena kicked her feet furiously, to reach the surface. She was almost there when a swimmer appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her by the waist and dragged her back to where she’d started, skimming the water strongly with their other arm. Behind them, a resounding smack hit the surface of the water. Its impact rippled across, creating turbulence. Elena wriggled free and shot up to the surface, spluttering. She placed her hands against the person’s body and shoved it away, with all her might.
‘What the fuck are you doing?’ she said, heaving, eyes and nose streaming, vision finally clearing. ‘Oh, Rory?’ She had a coughing fit and he gently guided her over to the side. ‘If you think that’s funny…’ she stuttered, still struggling to breathe.
A bald lifeguard appeared by them, standing above them on the tiled floor in red shorts. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked Elena and crouched down. His colleague was talking firmly to the bodybuilder, on the other side of the pool, ordering him out of the water.
Rory pointed. ‘That guy didn’t check the water well enough before diving in. You were already underneath the surface as he did a run up. I yelled but he must have assumed I was shouting at someone else. I was in the water by then, so I pushed myself off the side with all my strength and?—’
‘Fortunately for both of you, the diver stopped and did another run up, still not understanding anything was wrong. It gave you just enough time to get her out of the way.’ The lifeguard shook his head. ‘It won’t happen again once Judy has finished with him. He should have been more careful.’ The lifeguard sucked in his cheeks. ‘I once witnessed a very bad, freakdiving accident, similar circumstances, about ten years ago. Bad neck injuries, the pair of them, one of them life changing. They almost died. You had a lucky escape, miss.’
Elena gulped again, but this time fear entered her chest instead of chlorinated water. At his words, the water felt as chilly as when she’d first got in.
‘I’ll get the accident book.’ The lifeguard stood up and jerked his head towards a sign before walking away.
Elena stared at the wall ahead of her and the big red and white sign with the words ‘Careful in the deep end! Swimming and diving!’
‘I saw the man but thought he’d finished and was heading for the changing rooms.’ Her voice cracked. ‘That’s three times you’ve saved my life,’ she whispered.
‘That’s a little dramatic, but I’ll take it,’ he said and gave her a curious look. ‘Come on. Race you to the shallow end. Let’s get out, help the lifeguard with the paperwork and then head for the coffee machine.’
But Elena didn’t race and she had no stomach for a drink. She hardly said anything as they walked back to her cul-de-sac. It was coming true, all of it: the terrible thing she’d promised, aged ten, to the stranger amongst the trees, who’d kept their side of the deal. Now it was Elena’s turn to repay the favour.
Oh, over the years, on a good day, she’d pretended that the promise would never be called in. But there was no denying it now. Her mind raced over the incidents of the last couple of weeks and she took a sharp intake of breath.
Everything happens as it should…Everything happens for a reason… These were phrases bandied about, as if fate had tangible power. What if therewassense in them? What if the universe was on the stranger’s side, out of fairness, out of a beliefthat once a deal is made,bothparties must fulfil their side of it and to hell with the consequences?
